Why Shoppers Suspect The Butter From Aldi, Costco And Trader Joe's Is The Same Product

Fan theories may have become popularized by the movies, but they're also prevalent in the food industry as well. That's especially the case when it comes to figuring out who the suppliers are for private-label brands in grocery and warehouse stores. Admittedly, some of the fun in sussing them out can be motivated by both the consumer wanting to ensure they're making a sound purchase, and curiosity about how lock-and-key these stores tend to be regarding their producers' identities. One such case comes from cyber-sleuths who suspect that the private-label butters sold at Trader Joe's, Costco, and Aldi are being supplied, at least in part, by the same dairy provider. Even without official confirmation from the retailers, there are clues, such as product recalls and brand names and labels that resemble one another.

The strongest source of the internet's suspicion comes from the butters' packaging. As noticed in a 2021 post on TheALDINerd's Facebook community, a user shared a photo showing that the font style, layout, and color of the wrappers for Kirkland Signature and Countryside Creamery salted butter sticks are identical. In a 2022 Reddit post, a user shared another photo comparing sticks of unsalted butters from Costco and Aldi, again showcasing the same wrappers. And in 2025, a Facebook group user posted their allegations along with a close-up picture of the wrapped butter sticks from Trader Joe's and Aldi. While this post didn't show the butter's original packaging, the wrappers' appearance did match and lined up with other observations from previous social media posts several years later. So now another question arises: Who supplies butter to Costco, Trader Joe's, and Aldi?

Of course, there's no way to confirm the integrity of photos posted on social media, but that doesn't mean there isn't anything to go by when trying to suss out the shared butter supplier. Each of the sticks' wrappers includes not only the kind of butter, but also the dairy plant number for where it was made. As shown in the aforementioned posts, the butter from Aldi's Countryside Creamery and Kirkland Signature are both produced at plant 55-304, which is Grassland Dairy Products Inc., whereas the butter from plant 49-34 (perhaps the sticks from Trader Joe's) is West Point Dairy Products. And while both Grassland Dairy and West Point double as reputable and separately named private label suppliers, West Point was actually sold to the Wuethrich family, who own Grassland Dairy, in 2005. This would mean that, technically, those suspicions of a common butter supplier would be correct. 

If this is the case, it wouldn't be all that surprising. After all, it's not unheard of for a singular supplier to service multiple companies. For instance, Tyson was once a private-label supplier for Costco and a major recall of Tyson chicken linked it as the supplier for Walmart's Great Value line and Food Lion in 2019. However, it's worth acknowledging that Grassland Dairy Products and West Point Dairy Products may not be the only butter suppliers for Costco, Trader Joe's, and Aldi. Costco alone works with multiple white-label producers to save members money and keep shelves stocked year-round. While shoppers may never get an official statement confirming their supplier suspicions in this scenario, they can rest easy knowing that there's at least a solid lead on who's behind their butter.